Life is Strange - Stranger Storms Part 7
by Mahros
Summary: Chloe, Max, their daughter Emma, their friend Osira and her mech Obix continue in Sun City with the local leaders suspicious of their activities. Part 7 so previous parts recommended first. A bit of swearing from Chloe and mild drug references, also regarding Chloe.


TEN

Osira waited cross-legged in the apartment with her eyes closed. It was a habit her parents had taught to quell apprehension but it was not working. An internal tracker installed in her skull registered Obix's presence as the mech walked through the city, sticking to the shadows between the electric street lamps without making it obvious he was doing so. Obix lacked stealth technology but was smart enough to avoid attention. Although every male had a uniform of some sort, there was no police force as such, just the military and they appeared to have little crime to deal with.

For all that she had assured Chloe of taking care, Osira was well aware that being caught would likely result in their execution. Without official representation between the two countries, no-one would argue for leniency. She was also concerned by her unfamiliarity with the Knights of Liberty's technology, especially the circlets that could easily detect them then alert half the city. The temptation was to leave with what she knew but that was superficial: women were treated with respect but expected to be subservient. It was noteworthy but told them nothing of the Knights' intentions.

Consequently, she sat in the bedroom - actually Max's bedroom - and tried to mentally prepare herself for breaking into the military headquarters of the Knights of Liberty. Fortunately, while Emma and Torus had been agreeing to the sale of their cargo of skins to the tanner, Osira had been able to check on their APCs and use their own circlets to monitor the Knight's network, thereby finding out where to go. Osira had thought to tell Corporal Lores that she needed to check the vehicles but his attention was on Torus and, in a different way, Emma. The soldier barely noticed when she returned. By staying above in the city, Chloe and Max had deliberately or inadvertently split their guardians as Osira suspected Chapel would have paid more interest in what she was doing.

Osira had caught the end of the trading, with the tanner almost arguing with Torus about price until Emma had stepped in. Their nominal prisoner's accent had certainly been slipping and was then more exaggerated when he returned to the tanner, apologising and accepting the offer. Torus had a far better idea of what something was worth in the local currency but trading remained only a cover for their primary goal. Money had been handed over, which confused Osira further. Cash was still used. Perhaps it was safer - Troy City had gone through another rash of security failures where accounts were illegally accessed. Osira dreaded to think how easily it would be hack a bank while wearing one of the circlets, even without it being a skill she had cultivated.

Max was in the living room, watching television. Osira had dismissed it as a mixture of banal triviality and blunt propaganda but Max Caulfield appeared to find it relaxing.

While Max had been brewing tea and warming bread in the oven, Osira had asked her if she would want to stay in Sun City.

"No," was the simple response.

Obix entered their building, which lacked locks even on the outer doors, and climbed the stairs. Osira, in the darkest slacks and blouse she owned, tracked him until the mech reached their door and she let him. Max, also back in regular clothing, rose, looking much calmer than Osira felt. Their attire would mark them as outsiders but the white dresses would stand out too much in the night. Worse, she did not have a circlet, feeling it was too easy to notice as they returned through the military offices at the bottom of the elevator.

"I wish Chloe was coming with us," Max said but nodded her preparedness.

Outside, sunset was long past, their elevation causing an especially long dusk starting as the sun went below the city's wall, with the city's street lamps creating pools of light at regular intervals.

"This was easier when I was 18," Max whispered but Osira thought there was no easy age for breaking into military headquarters.

Obix, as ever, was a life-saver. His superior audio and visual capabilities allowed them to avoid the few people still out past sundown. Osira contrasted the nearly empty streets with those in the Order where neon lights drew people out like moths, with Troy City noisy and busy even in the small hours. Sun City had almost shut down. Only occasionally did they see anyone and they were all male, although with all men wearing uniforms it was difficult to tell if they were patrolling or on other tasks. Noise was more of an issue than sight and Osira found she was placing each step cautiously in the near silent city.

Creeping from shadow to shadow soon became nerve wracking, even knowing Obix would keep them from being caught. The battle against the mercenaries in the Horizons building had shown the limitations of the mech's abilities.

"We have to hide," Max said as they became close to the end of the boulevard and they dodged into a side passage, although as wide as the main perimeter road of Troy.

Osira's curiosity at what Max could have seen that Obix missed was answered almost as soon as she thought it. A small gap appeared in the clouds and the moon bathed the city in reflected light. Even only half full, the satellite briefly illuminated the entire city in a spectral glow. Osira stared at the half-sphere, wondering at a sight she had only beheld a few times in her life. Once, people had walked on its surface, launched atop crude, chemical-reaction rockets. At least, they had from Max's world.

They were not the only ones looking up. Those men of Sun City outside stared up; a man perhaps Osira's age had his mouth open. An older one was pointing to some feature he had seen.

Then the clouds closed again and with it the sense of otherworldly awe. Osira wondered what had transpired the first time Max had experience it. Presumably, at least one of those staring up at the moon had noticed them. She was grateful but still found Max Caulfield's ability profoundly unsettling.

The unexpected moonlight aside, the journey was relatively easy. Osira still felt as though some alarm would be raised and troopers come running from all directions but it remained quiet. It was colder than she was used to and the air against her face seemed stranger than during the day, making her feel further exposed. Creeping around in the middle of the night on a spy mission was not what she should be doing. If there was ever enough money, perhaps a shop selling mechs and parts. Even trading would be less likely to induce a heart attack than this.

The military headquarters of Sun City was just a larger version of the residential building Osira was staying in. Square but the size of nine of the domestic constructions put together and six storeys high, there was a larger plaque over double doors showing an eagle or similar bird in flight. There was a guard - bored from the way he was ambling around - and a flag pole but little else to indicate the building was the military heart of the Knights of Liberty.

The circlet had given them an overview of the city but that was all. In the limited time she had back in the APC, Osira had not been able to locate a blueprint of the headquarters, which made what they were going to do much more difficult. They crouched and waited but the only guard appeared to be the one at the front, now sitting against the door and pretending to shoot his rail rifle.

There was no perimeter fence and only a wider than normal gap separated the headquarters from the surrounding buildings. Architectural design normally seemed to stop at 'square' but there was a curving amphitheatre-like area to the left. All cities were constrained by the rad-domes and their location but the lack of security around the military headquarters was unbelievable enough to be suspicious. She waited for a while longer in the shadow of a nearby building.

The devices linking her with Obix were close enough that Osira could tell he was not detecting any surveillance equipment. They were simple implants in her skull and forearm that linked using light waves beyond human visual to communicate with the mech. Using them allowed her to detect his presence over two kilometres away as long as there was little to block the signals and within fifty meters to see what he could. There was nothing evident on the building but they could have technology far beyond that of Troy's, like the circlets and the APCs.

Osira motioned for them to circle to the rear of the building, thankful Chloe was not present. She could imagine the blue-haired woman barging in through the front door and telling anyone who got in her way to get lost in the most colourful manner possible. There were windows large enough to enter by, although the first floor ones had bars.

She looked at Max, who shrugged and asked Obix to lift her up, which the mech did as easily as a forklift with Max standing on his hands as he held her high enough to reach the first floor window. Then it was open. One moment it was closed, the next there was a handle propping the window open, as though Osira had passed out or closed her eyes for half a minute. Max was climbing through.

Obix looked at Osira with distress and she sympathised. The power Maxine Caulfield had was frightening, even ignoring how it went against all the rules of relativity.

The mech lifted her up and she climbed through the window into a dark room that Max was already exploring. Obix then jumped up and joined them. Osira wished she had a better plan - or any plan, for that matter - but they had no prior knowledge of the building.

"We should split up," Osira whispered.

"Have you not seen any horror movies?" Max asked then added: "oh."

"One or two on an old VR headset but I do not enjoy them. How is that relevant to this situation?" Osira queried.

"People split up and get taken down one at a time," Max explained and Osira considered it. Certainly, they worked better as a team but it was already late and they would need some sleep before the morning.

"We don't have time to stay together," Osira decided. "My guess is the important plans will be at the top or bottom so you go downstairs, I'll go upstairs and Obix can search as much of the rest as possible. We will meet here in an hour."

With her eyes adjusting to the gloom, Osira made her way round desks arranged like a classroom and out into a hallway, taking a wrong turn that led to more offices before finding the stairwell and an elevator. It was tempting to take it for ease and speed but the guard outside or anyone still within might hear the noise. She had chosen to go up because it would be easier for her than Max but wondered if sending Obix would have been better. Osira sighed and began the climb up five flights of stairs. Whatever flaws Sun City had, it would keep her fit: she had seen no vehicles other than the carts since the car park below ground.

Despite her youth and health, Osira was still not used to so many stairs and was breathing hard on reaching the top floor. There were several large offices with name plates and ranks on the doors, a conference room and a distinct lack of technology. There were smaller rooms with typewriters but no sign of a network to break into and she nodded at the Knights' use of less vulnerable hard copies, although it meant they would need a good supply of wood, with trees requiring a lot of water.

A couple of the rooms had safes with combination locks but a search of the desks revealed no indication of the code. Osira wondered if Max could help in some way but she did not see how rewinding time would help with cracking open steel safes. Her promise to only use Max's ability in emergencies was already being broken. A rummage through cupboards revealed binders and books but nothing of interest. One had bottles of presumably alcoholic drinks but there remained few personal items. Again, there were the small, circular paintings in holders on the desks of unsmiling wives and children but nothing else

Reluctantly, Osira went down a level, rummaging through more desks, including some in a more communal area with typewriters and file cabinets. Her appreciation of their security-inspired avoidance of electronic or photonic media rapidly evaporated as she searched through hundreds of sheets of paper. The language and alphabet was the same as the Order's but the filing system made little sense to her and not knowing what to look for hindered her further.

"'I' for Invasion Plans?" she muttered, a sign of her frustration and nerves. Documents about everyone, not just military. No doubt the Order had similar files on storage drives but it seemed more intrusive to have details on a sheet of paper. Most cabinets were locked but there was a nearby rack of keys with a combination lock that opened to '1111.' It seemed to be her only stroke of luck: the files listed blood type, marriage status, job, home and similar details with a small photograph but nothing on operations.

More files on trading with other, ground-level Knights of Liberty settlements, detailing what was brought in and exported. Then something caught her eye, with her small flash light taken from the APC moving beyond it before the interest registered.

"One hundred kilos of salmon bought from the Eternal Mandate. One kilo of non-irradiated precious metals sent in return," she read and mused: "A new player in the game?"

_I sound like the Viceroy but it _is_ curious, _Osira thought and continued reading. To all intents and purposes, it was just an exchange of goods but it clearly referred to another country or at least group, which meant even further away. Some names that meant nothing but might be worth remembering if they cropped up on similar documents. Aware from her internal chronometer that the allotted hour was up, she carefully placed the paper back and hurried downstairs again.

Obix and Max were already there. The former would never be late meeting her, if it was possible, and the latter had the power to rewind time, although there was no indication she had done so again.

"Any trouble?" she checked.

"There was a man wandering about but I avoided him," Max replied. "He's still in the building as far as I know but it's hard to tell who's a janitor, who's a night watchman and who's an office worker staying late."

"There was no-one on this floor or the one above," Obix reported, "but nor did I find anything of use."

"I found documentation on a trade between the Knights and something called the Eternal Mandate," Osira declared, which prompted less enthusiasm than she had expected. Obix, of course, looking at her for more instructions but Max was almost as indifferent.

"Does that help us?" she asked.

"Maybe," Osira frowned. "It's something worth investigating. Come back upstairs with me and we'll go through the rest."

"Talking of rest," Max said, "I can't pull an all-nighter anymore."

"You can…" Osira began and then just nodded. How did Max resist the temptation to use her power continually? Osira was not sure she would not, even knowing the risks. Tired? Rewind for a longer nap. Wanted longer to prepare for a meeting with the Viceroy or longer with loved ones or even reliving an enjoyable moment. Or avoiding someone or fixing a mistake or changing some embarrassment or…

"Just an hour then we're gone," she agreed and led them back up, feeling the muscles in her legs begin to burn at the unaccustomed action. With Max's rewind power, they could use the elevator and avoid anyone they met… no. Even a remote chance of creating a vortex to Earth or elsewhere was not worth it, even to save walking four flights of stairs.

Osira showed them the document she had found.

"I still don't understand," Max admitted.

"It proves they're not so set against outsiders," Osira explained, deflating at how weak it sounded. The Knights had sent a mercenary group of six APCs and half of them could have taken Fort Jinyo had she and the others not arrived. If the Knights committed themselves to an offensive, there was little the Order had which could stop them. In comparison, the details of a trade of ore for food seemed unimportant.

"We need to open friendly relations with them and trade might facilitate that," Osira declared, even though Max and the mech were already searching. Was she reading too much into it? No. Representative Rawlinson had been too dismissive of them for the existing trade agreement not to be curious.

Obix searched with superhuman speed, needing only to glance at a sheet of paper but it was Max who went to a locked cabinet with 'Secret' plastered on it. None of the keys had fit its lock but Max asked Obix if he could pick it.

"That is not something I am programmed to do," Obix responded.

"Would you try?" Max asked and Obix looked at Osira, who shrugged. Max gave a half-informative explanation of tumblers, scratching her head at not really understanding even as she was trying to say how they worked. Obix waited patiently for her to finish then put his finger into the lock, the nanobots rearranging the digit to act as a skeleton key.

Obix's obsolescence included the nanobots and it was a couple of minutes before the cabinet clicked open. Max began looking through the files and Osira resumed her own search, aware that time was passing. She yawned and decided to call an end for the night. There were more trade deals with the Eternal Mandate in the 'secret' cabinet that Max showed her but it was all routine. It was possible the Knights were keeping the trading secret from their populace for fear of causing disruption.

Max swore - the first time Osira had known her to - and handed over a small packet of papers.

They detailed the Knights of Liberty purchasing forty APCs, two hundred rail rifles, a hundred rail pistols and eighty silver 'C5' circlets from the Eternal Mandate.

It all clicked into place. The Knights had not developed advanced technology but bought it. Everything else was backward even to Earth standards.

"No indication of if they plan an attack but very good information," Osira nodded. "Let's leave while we're ahead."

"And make sure everything is back as we left it," Max smiled and Osira checked the padlock and cabinets before heading back down the stairs.

"Someone is coming," Obix stated, although Chloe could hear nothing and resisted the urge to peer over the railings to see who was there. Instead, they ducked into a side room with the awkwardness of silently hurrying. Fortunately, the doors were as well-oiled as other equipment the Knights maintained and opened without creaking as they slid into an office, hiding behind desks.

A couple of minutes later the door opened and a small flashlight swept the room. Osira froze, motionless, while wishing Max would use her power.

"Not here," a male voice said quietly.

"Should be up another floor," another declared, just as sotto voce and they left. Osira let out a breath of relief and followed Obix down to the second floor. Definitely time to go.

"Obix, can you take me to Chloe?" Max asked as they slipped out of the window, letting it close behind them.

"This is hardly the time," Osira said, still on edge from almost being caught.

"She will be worried. We also ought to have a quick meeting before morning," Max responded and Osira nodded but wanted to be done with creeping about. With Obix again detecting anyone approaching, it was almost too easy and Osira found her attention drifting to the documents they had found. Did it matter? The Knights did not have mechs but now had the power to potentially conquer the Order, which was already fragmented enough that a strike at Troy City might be all that was required to defeat them. The Knights had bought a loaded gun and the Order needed to know what they were going to do with it. Perhaps a quick briefing with Chloe and Emma, even in the small hours of the morning, was not a bad idea.

Max had barely knocked before Chloe was embracing her. It went on long enough that Osira cleared her throat and Chloe reluctantly parted to let them into the apartment.

"You know we can take care of ourselves," Max told Chloe, smiling affectionately at her.

"Yes but… shit happens," Chloe responded. Emma gave Max a hug as well and, with that over, the Price-Caulfields sat and looked at Osira while Obix took position near the door to listen for anyone approaching.

She yawned and then gave a synopsis of what they had discovered.

"We have to keep this brief. It is only a few hours to dawn and I have not slept," Osira stated. Max looked like she was already dozing off in Chloe's arms.

"We should blow," Chloe said. "We've traded, we've discovered some info and staying longer would be suspicious."

"We don't know their intentions," Osira observed.

"And maybe we can't," Chloe shrugged. "They might not even have a plan. Certainly this isn't a city preparing for war. It makes more sense to go and come back with more trade, especially as we know better what they need.

"If I was a Knight of Lib asking why you were still here?" Chloe asked, turning around the earlier testing of her responses while approaching Sun City.

"I would say I am still resting and finding out what the city desires," Osira answered. Chloe looked at Emma.

"Stay another day then go," the red-haired woman commented. "Going too soon doesn't look great either. We can give them advance notice so they don't wonder at our abrupt departure, buy some goods to take back, get a bit more of a feel yet not outstay our welcome."

It seemed a sensible compromise and Osira nodded. She thought Chloe would insist that Max stay with her and Emma but seemed to accept that it was safer for them to be found in their own rooms. That was not to say they did not part without first kissing so long that Osira went past awkward embarrassment and onto tired impatience.

ELEVEN

Emma yawned and stretched a crick out of her muscles. Sleeping on the couch was a step up from the APC but still far from the most comfortable of locations while Chloe-mom had been fretting over Max-mom. Emma understood and sympathised with Chloe's concern but that had not made it easier to endure as her blue-haired parent muttered and fidgeted, sitting for a few minutes before standing and pacing. Chloe had also planned rescue attempts that were increasingly based on the APCs and blowing the city up.

"I'm sorry," Chloe said from the doorway. She was wearing just a T-shirt and looking as tired as Emma felt. No doubt Iris Chapel would soon be knocking on their door.

"It's cool," Emma smiled.

"I just get hella worried," Chloe shrugged. "It's your fault, you know."

"Mine?"

"A joint or even a regular cig would have alleviated my worries," Chloe explained. "You and Max are depriving me of my meds."

"There isn't any here in Sun City," Emma told her. "You know better than me how bad smoking is for you."

"I intend to fix that: trading narcotics to the City of the Sun," Chloe smiled. "They don't even have coffee."

"I'll brew a pot of tea," Emma offered and began heating the stove. Osira's explanation of the technology accounted for actually having to boil water in a pan and pour it into a pot.

"Kettles and coffee," Emma suggested. "Then tobacco and weed."

"Tobacco is expensive," Chloe sighed. "Too much call for the cultivatable land, I suppose. I miss a morning blaze though."

"We're proud of you," Emma smiled and Chloe just snorted.

There was a knock at the door that revealed Chapel as Chloe let her in. The woman looked shocked at Chloe in just a T-shirt.

"I should come back when you are dressed," she declared, turning her head so she was talking towards the wall.

"That could be a while," Chloe shrugged. "It's not like I'm naked. Take a seat and a cup of tea."

If there was any knowledge of the other pirates breaking into the Knights of Liberty military headquarters, Chapel clearly had not heard.

"Please," the woman implored.

"Fine but I'm not putting that cult outfit on until we go outside," Chloe sighed and slid into her slacks.

"Thank you," Chapel said as Chloe returned from the bedroom, then again as Emma brought her tea. Osira had brought a radiation detector back from the APC and it was now habit to check everything. Wherever the tea was grown, it was safe to consume and Emma sipped hers, glad of the confirmation. Not everything was and they were all taking iodine tablets to be safe.

"We're off tomorrow morning," Chloe declared, managing to sprawl on the couch despite Emma taking half of it. "So, today should be about checking what Sun City can offer us."

"White dresses?" Chapel suggested and Emma and Chloe laughed, as much from the humour being unexpected as its wit. The woman's face was so composed that Emma wondered if Chapel had actually been joking, although she did not say anything.

"We'd have to seriously change them," Chloe grinned.

"You have plenty of fresh water," Emma observed. "We would not be able to carry much but it could be profitable."

"And you seem to use wood," Chloe commented. "Not much of that around the Order lands. Not clean, anyway."

"We brought raw materials," Emma said, "but the industry in the Order can always use ore."

The understanding that the Knights of Liberty were actually less advanced than the Grand Fault Order flipped the trading: manufactured goods would be going to Sun City and the materials to craft more to Troy. There was still the question of the Eternal Mandate beyond but the Knights no longer felt an omnipotent threat, even if they did have fleets of APCs.

Emma looked at Chapel, who stared at her tea, evidently lost in some thought before coming to.

"Forgive me, please. I… that was rude of me," Chapel said. "Of course, I shall liaise with Corporal Lores and see if he will arrange for you to visit one of the mines and processing plants."

"If there's anywhere you can be rude, it's here," Chloe grinned. "Taking processed ore would be better than raw rock. For now, if you have iron, that would be good. You can't go wrong with iron."

"Understand that the deal will..." Chapel began.

"Yeah, yeah," Chloe interrupted. "We aren't smart enough to make the deal so we'll flutter our eyelashes at the menfolk and sweetly ask them to."

"That was mom demonstrating how it's okay to be rude," Emma interjected and her mom at least looked embarrassed, muttering something that might have been an apology.

"Your 'mom'?" Chapel queried.

"That might be more liberal than you want," Chloe answered, with more caution than Emma was used to.

Chapel sighed and nodded.

"I have a good life here," she said, which seemed to be a non-sequitur and Emma guessed Chapel was mulling something over.

"You have a secure life here. That's not necessarily the same thing," Chloe responded.

"Perhaps not but at my age 'secure' is something to settle for," Chapel said and then continued in a less rueful tone: "There will be the court session, which will begin this morning, should you still wish to observe."

"It will be a blast to not be in the dock," Chloe declared. "There'll be refreshments?"

"Remember what I said yesterday," Chapel chided her, "people's fates are being decided. There will be a speech by Lord Salisbury, First Knight of Liberty."

"I can't wait," Chloe said but Emma knew she was aware that it was all good information about the culture and preferences of the Knights of Liberty.

"Please dress and we will join your companions," Chapel said.

The white dress, however much it had been taken in by Nerine Niles to show her figure, felt like putting on a uniform that sapped individuality. It seemed to have little effect on Chloe-mom who looked like a blue lioness in a dress. Inevitably, her mom began messing about doing a curtsey that almost had her fall over and twirling in a way that was probably more appealing than she intended.

"Why, yes, sir, I would love to dance, as long as you lead," Chloe declared. "Tonight, I'm going to sneak off and tag the shit out of this city, perhaps you would care to accompany me, sir, with a chaperone, of course."

"Because we never want to come back," Emma smiled and Chapel led them out across the city to join Max and Osira then to the boulevard to wait for Obix and Torus. As they waited watching people walking to their jobs, Chloe gently asked Chapel about where the children were.

"They are collected by their teachers and taken to school," Chapel explained. "From three until sixteen, they are taught then the men are given jobs based on their aptitudes. The women are recommended for marriage based on similar criteria."

"Sounds a blast," Chloe said and Emma wondered what it would have been like to be educated in a school instead. Perhaps not in Sun City, though: she liked her freedom.

"So, the Knights of Liberty do educate their women," Max noted.

"Of course," Chapel said. "Obviously, it's not identical and, as I understand it, diverges more in the later years but my education taught me much of the world and what life was like before the Knights of Liberty took over."

"Obviously," Chloe commented.

"I understand you do not like the way Sun City is run but we do have peace, prosperity and purpose. Can you say the same for the Order?" Chapel asked.

"No, at least not for all, but nor are we little more than mechs," Chloe replied. Chapel queried what a 'mech' was but they were saved from explaining or lying by the arrival of Corporal Lores, Obix and Torus.

They walked again along the boulevard that was so at odds with everything Emma knew. Cowl's encampment had been about desperately trying to keep crops and the few livestock from being destroyed by dust storms. Troy, with its rad-dome, was a chaotic rush of people trying to make a living with an edge of desperation: _buy from me or else_. Here, the shopkeepers stayed within their stores and even when they had customers let them browse without interruption. It felt like an oasis to walk down the boulevard with the inhabitants taking their time and inclining heads by way of greeting and lined by trees, even if all were fruit-bearing ones.

"For all that it's a dictatorship, it's nice not to have CCTV surveillance cameras watching us," Max commented.

"That's just because you want to be behind all the cameras," Chloe responded, grinning.

"How well you know me," Max laughed. It was sometimes odd to see them together, with such an easy repartee despite all they had been through and the years apart. The edge that had disappeared from Chloe-mom was remarkable for being something Emma had not noticed until it was gone. Emma was glad Chloe had something more to live for than making sure her daughter survived Telkia and it felt, belatedly, like they were a complete family at last. She understood Chloe's fear that it could again be taken from her.

With the men - the corporal, the Joddrel Town 'Steel Warrior' and the mech - walking ahead, Chloe grumbled "when would they notice if we detoured?" but Emma was enjoying strolling along the broad avenue. Being closer to the clouds took a little getting used to, although it was not much different to having a dome over her head. She would put up with having to wear a white dress if it meant being outside without a rad suit.

The amphitheatre seemed out of place among the square buildings, its semi-circle of benches looking to belong to a different style of architecture. Hundreds of people were present and the genders intermingled for once, with men and women sat together talking. Despite the numbers, the Knights of Liberty restraint permeated even here and people spoke quietly, which Emma found one of the more bizarre aspects of the city. Whether in Tory City, Cowl's Encampment or any of the outlying settlements, shouting was more normal than whispering. That extended to living in an RV with Chloe-mom.

Corporal Fabian Lores took them to seats near the back of the semi-circle, indicating they should sit. The area appeared to ease the restriction on inter-gender communication although the division was still notable.

"Are you enjoying our fair city?" he asked Emma, although glanced at Chloe's bullet necklace as though it was some fantasy creature come to life.

"It is peaceful," Emma replied. "Very different, although the idea that I could not have a job if I lived here is insane."

"You tell it, Sister," Chloe added, not particularly helpfully.

"You would have a job. You could sew, cook and clean," Lores commented.

"Look, you shit…" Chloe began and Emma touched her arm, moving to block her glare at the corporal. Blue eyes stared at her until the anger dissipated, although her mom crossed her arms and soon got up to walk off her annoyance. She sympathised with Chloe-mom's reaction but it sometimes got tiring to have to prevent her flying into a rage, especially when it was so counter-productive. Max stood to join Chloe.

"And if I wanted to be an engineer or architect?" Emma asked Lores.

"You're a woman," he answered, looking shocked and she suspected that would be his response to many suggestions.

"I could do them just as well as a man, with the right training," she said. "My… Chloe can fix vehicles and cross-pollenate plants for better crop yields. Why should it matter if she's a woman?"

"They are not female jobs," Lores stated. "It would be like me sewing or raising children… I am sorry, that was inexcusably insensitive," he added with a glance at their grey stripes. "Please, forgive me."

Emma waved her hand to dismiss the comment but he seemed to want more.

"There is nothing to forgive. Well, there is but not what you think," she sighed. Emma was almost as grateful as the corporal when a young man in a burgundy and grey uniform marched onto the stage.

"The acoustics are better if the speaker stays low down," Max commented as she sat, getting a frown from Chapel and Lores. Chloe remained standing, arms folded and brow furrowed. Emma gave her an exaggerated, mocking pout and Chloe rolled her eyes then re-joined them, grinning sheepishly at her.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Knights of Liberty," the speaker announced in a clear voice, "our illustrious leader: Lord Salisbury."

There was applause but everyone remained seated. Chloe had mentioned how demagogues on Earth would have standing ovations and cheering but it seemed different for Sun City.

Salisbury was of indeterminate ethnicity, at least from where they sat, with greying dark hair and russet brown skin, he appeared relatively short by the standards of the metropolis but fairly well-fed. Emma had been shocked by the size of some of the people on Earth where food was bountiful and he was unremarkable by those standards but still round-cheeked with a slight paunch. In a world where every grain was precious, being even slightly overweight was seen as an indication of wealth, something Emma had taken for universal before her brief sojourn back on Earth.

"This is a city of prosperity and security," he began and Emma leaned forward to better hear his soft tone. "Production is up by 5% per annum and our population has grown by nearly 20% in the last ten years. Sun City and the Knights of Liberty are thriving." With his inability to project his voice, Salisbury almost sounded like a child saying how big and strong he was. Or a patient how well they were.

"Let us never forget the days before the Knights of Liberty brought order to the chaos. Our numbers dwindled, children were still-born; society itself was collapsing as we could no longer produce what was required. We were one generation not from anarchy, for law had long since gone from these streets, but from degenerating into bands of hunter-gatherers wandering the lifeless desert beyond.

"Never take these pristine streets for granted as your place in keeping each other safe is vital. That is why those who come forward to report crimes are lauded and feted. It is very easy to consider the short term but we must always, _always_, put the Knights of Liberty and the collective above the individual.

"Do your duty, today, but, first, let us welcome our newest members to the Knights of Liberty with a special mention to Mrs. Erica Monroe, who has given birth to her fifth child."

More polite applause, interspersed with names. It did not go on long and Emma wondered how often they went through the new births.

"This is fucked up," Chloe muttered adding: "Oh, bite me," when Corporal Lores looks at her with a shocked expression. Emma was curious what had stirred her mother this time.

"Half the people here have grey stripes. Well, the women do but I'd guess it applies to the guys too," Chloe explained. "How do you think it feels to have this rubbed in their faces? 'Come and celebrate those who aren't failures.'"

Emma realised she was right. There was a definite difference in the reactions of those with green stripes to those with grey.

"So why do it?" Emma asked. "They appear to want unity."

"Crude 'divide and conquer' tactics," Chloe replied. "Create an underclass and have them struggle to be accepted, so the two groups face each other instead of questioning their leaders. It's so basic as to be boring, in an infuriating way. And who better than those who will never think 'it will be bad for me but I'll make it better for my children'? This place… sucks. What?"

They were all looking at her, as well as others near enough to overhear. Lores open-mouthed, Chapel thoughtfully, Torus grinning, Max proudly, Obix quizzically and Osira with intellectual interest. Then Representative Rawlings was on stage.

"Our first case is Edward Palmer, who fell asleep on sentry," he announced and Emma's curiosity was sparked by what was happening.

There were no advocates. The defendant stopped on the stage, looking awkward and gave a long, rambling speech about how he was sorry and had already been on a long shift, slept badly the previous night, had not been on sentry during the evening, had a clean record and worked hard. Emma thought he was about to lose any sympathy with the audience/jury but there was evidently a time limit and he was escorted off while wanting to continue.

The man's commanding officer came up, spoke in his defence clearly and crisply with the brevity of someone who had done similar on many occasions. His comments were evidently taken with respect by the crowd and a man they had not seen before in a black uniform suggested a sentence of 'Half pay for three months'. The vast majority of hands went up.

The next one was of a man hitting his wife. He explained they had been arguing and she had pushed him, causing his instinctive reaction. He was truly sorry and promised it would not happen again.

Emma had not expected such hostility from those assembled. There was a distinct air of disapproval.

His wife pleaded for leniency, explaining she had provoked him, repeatedly insisting he repair a broken chair and actually prodded his chest. Far from easing the mood of those assembled, the woman's entreaty seemed to harden their resolve.

Emma looked at Chloe, who was glowering at the proceedings again, despite Max's arm around her.

"It is a fascinating way of getting the populace involved in self-policing," Osira considered. "Any miscarriage of justice or complaint at the punishment is the fault of the people and not the government."

"That is not why this is done," Lores objected. "It is to prevent corruption, preferential treatment and political influence."

"If that was the case they would not have someone recommending the punishment," Osira stated and nodded towards the black-clad man coming forward to suggest 'exile' and few kept their hands down.

"That's harsh," Emma said. "I'm not saying he deserved to get away with it but that's virtually a death sentence."

"Our next case is different and it was discussed whether the people's court should judge it," Rawlings announced, which caused a ripple of surprise through the crowd. "Last night, spies broke into the military headquarters."

Emma looked at the others, all of whom appeared as guilty as she surely did. Even Chloe was clearly alarmed and stared at Chapel but she was observing the stage. A glance at Lores showed the corporal was studying Obix and Torus but the former was emotionless. The Joddrel Towner had a worried expression, peering round but was smart enough not to start asking questions about where Obix had gone the previous evening. There were no guards closing on them, which was a good sign, although the fact that all the men were in uniform made it difficult to know for certain.

Lord Salisbury stepped onto stage to join the representative, coming to stand just in front of him. With a pale blue backdrop, it could almost have been a play.

"As many of you are aware, we have reluctantly opened our borders to outsiders. The growth in population and expansion of industry means this is a potential boon and our brothers in the Eternal Mandate have respected our traditions and proven to be our friends to the benefit of all.

"When people from the east came with similar promises, we were just as open and welcoming."

"What is this shit?" Chloe demanded of Irene Chapel, who shook her head.

"The so-called 'Grand Fault Order' has proved to be disruptive and determined not to respect our way of life. Still, we have attempted to be understanding and hoped that, in time, they would see our way is the better way. A path of progress without sacrificing honour or decency."

Despite the distance, Emma thought he was genuinely angry, with his round face reddening and emotion creeping into his words. Rawlinson stood impassive behind him.

"However, while we were distracted, others crept into our lands, violated that trust and entered our sanctuaries," Salisbury stated and Emma did feel uncomfortable at the Pirates' deceit.

Two men were led onto the stage, dressed in dark grey uniforms but their hands tied and guarded by four others carrying rail guns. Emma glanced at Osira, who shook her head and shrugged, then at Chloe but her attention was on the ground and she could not guess what her mom was thinking.

"Thanks to the vigilance of the people of Sun City, they were under surveillance and were observed entering the defence headquarters. They stole secret papers and returned to their apartment without any remorse for their act," Salisbury announced. "Their guilt is without question."

"So, we were brought here for this display," Max declared. "Why?"

"I did not know," Chapel responded but her tone was clipped and disapproving.

"So you can go back to your people and tell them what happens to spies," Corporal Lores explained and Emma could only feel relief that they would be allowed to go.

"Speak in your defence," Lord Salisbury ordered the two men.

"We are citizens of Sun City. This is a mistake…" the first man began but the second shakes his head.

"I was in Fort Jinyo when your tanks entered, blasting the town to pieces. My wife died when our home took a rail cannon slug. After the battle, I came home to…"

He stopped and hung his head.

The first one changed tack, realising the other had essentially admitted their guilt.

"We are emissaries. As long as you never again attack us, there is no reason we cannot live in peace, especially as we are separated by hundreds of miles of waste land. We can agree to have nothing to do with each other or exchange embassies…"

The man talked until the time expired then both were led off. Neither showed any sign of coercion and Emma wondered how the Order would have treated them had the situation been reversed.

The black uniformed man stepped onto the stage and Emma wondered at the notion of justice, entertainment and collective responsibility rolled into one. She could almost feel the tug to be part of the self-righteous audience and have the power to decide a person's fate. Beside her, however, Chloe-mom and Max-mom had their arms around each other and both disapproved; the former scowling and the latter just unhappy.

"Their lies show they have no remorse or regret. Their actions clearly show intent to undermine the whole of our nation, possibly as a prelude to more aggressive action. For the first time in five years, I ask for the sentence of death for these enemy saboteurs.

"Given the severity and the ramifications, please consider carefully," the black-clad man instructed and waited for a minute with his head bowed. Emma noticed Chloe start to rise and Max almost force her back down onto the bench.

"Look at me," Max hissed, evidently trying to keep her voice down. "Now at our daughter and Osira and Obix and Torus." Emma expected Chloe-mom to ignore Max or swear but instead did as directed, even if it was a glare that barely softened even when looking at her.

"Now, think about whether you want us all down on that stage too or torn apart by the audience simply from association," Max said. Emma could see Chapel listening, although Lores was watching what was happening on the stage.

"This is sick, Max," Chloe objected. "They are making a game over those men's lives."

"They were caught spying," Max told her. "The US executed spies. I don't like it either but what can we do that will actually help instead of making it worse?"

"It is time," the man in black announced and hands went up, a few at first then more. Some stayed down but not enough. The two men from the Grand Fault Order were led away.

"How will it be done?" Chloe demanded.

"Over the side," Chapel answered. "You should listen to Ms. Caulfield."

"You should…" Chloe started, loudly, but then stopped with a jerk of her head.

"Who are the Eternal Mandate?" Emma enquired of Lores and hoped she did not sound like she was asking to cover her guilt. "If that isn't secret information."

"Our friends," the corporal answered bluntly.

There was a brief closing ceremony with Rawlinson thanking them for doing their duty and then the audience slowly dispersed. Emma caught a few pieces of conversation, mostly about the accusation that the Knights of Liberty had struck first. A pair of young men were discussing that they had not expected to feel so involved in the cases and the lack of preparation was strange. An older couple were shocked at the domestic abuse case and a group were discussing military discipline, while a young woman passed close enough that Emma heard her whisper to a friend that she could not wait for the next one. The Grand Fault Order was the main topic of conversation, however.

"So, do we get lectured and thrown out?" Chloe asked Chapel. "Or just thrown off the side without the circus first?"

"Have you done anything wrong?" Lores queried in response, standing in front of her.

"Every day that I can remember," Chloe told him.

"Perhaps not the time for levity," Emma said but suppressed a laugh.

"Have you done anything wrong against the Knights of Liberty?" the corporal demanded.

"Yes. I had an opinion. Do you know how I can stop more forming?" Chloe answered but then sighed. "No, I have not transgressed your laws. Now, can we go? Even I know we've outstayed our welcome."

"Why the sudden hurry?" Lores asked and Emma wondered if he had been told to investigate them since the spies - _the other spies_ \- had been arrested.

"Gee, could it be because I don't want to be thrown off a ledge a thousand feet in the air?" Chloe retorted and Lores blushed. Torus appeared restless and more so at having the idea voiced, looking like he was on the verge of running and Emma felt little better.

"Stay here. Mrs Chapel, please remain with them," Lores directed and marched off.

"Peachy," Max said.

"Can you blame us?" Chapel responded. "Your countrymen pretended to be our people in order to steal our secrets."

"I was at Fort Jinyo too," Chloe declared and Emma winced. The less information the Knights had, the better. "I saw your attack."

"We would not do that," Chapel said.

"Oh, because your leaders disseminate to everyone their covert actions," Chloe countered.

"We would not attack without provocation," Chapel insisted but Emma wondered if registering the temporal anomalies counted as that provocation. The Knights were twitchy enough about their society being undermined: how would they react to what they thought was a weapon of mass destruction?

Max interceded again, calming Chloe without needing to remind her they were there to spy and antagonising people was not the best way of escaping. They sat waiting for Lores to return without speaking, largely lost in their own thoughts and fears.

TWELVE

Chloe frowned at where Lores had disappeared.

"If you weren't here, I could think this was actually hell," she grumbled to Max. "What kind of twisted town doesn't have any alcohol, weed or smokes?"

"There's fresh air and no radiation," Max told her.

"I just want to let loose. Drive down that boulevard in a gas-guzzler, playing _Firewalk_ at full volume while trailing a cloud of smoke behind me. Is that so wrong?" Chloe sighed.

"I think a little bit, yes," Max laughed. "Come on, it's not all bad. Clean water, newly baked bread. And these dresses are so pretty."

"We look like a party of ghosts. I mean, Obe and Torus got frigging uniforms," Chloe said but then moderated her voice after glancing at Chapel, waiting like a mech for her master to come back. "I want to save them."

Max nodded. She was cute in her dress, Chloe admitted. It was not her style but Chloe quite liked the look, especially if they could get a design on the front. Perhaps a doe, as she doubted Max would go for a black skull with a cigarette in its mouth…

"Not that I mind but are you checking out my chest, Chloe Price?" Max asked.

"What? Oh, I was mentally adding style to that dress," she explained. "Perhaps some bloody paw prints in bright red."

"I see," Max commented smiling and Chloe looked into her big, grey-blue eyes. _Don't leave me, Max. I don't deserve you and I hate needing anything this much but, please, never leave me._

"Corporal Lores is returning," Osira stated and Chloe was grateful to look away so Max did not see that desperate need for her.

The corporal was accompanied by Representative Rawlings and three others in a mixture of coloured uniforms. Chapel rose and curtseyed in a smooth, well-practised move as they reached them. Chloe lurched to her feet and stared at them, wondering if she and the pirates were to be arrested but all the men appeared too old and with too many rank flashes to be guards.

Torus and Obix had been given bottle green uniforms without insignia and both looked sharp professionals. The boy from Joddrel Town even seemed to stand straighter as though he actually was under the Knights' command and Chloe wondered what he made of the city. Rawlinson addressed him and Obix.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I understand you are to leave tomorrow?" he checked.

"That is our intention," Obix responded as Torus nodded. With his head stubble hidden by a forage cap, the self-proclaimed Steel Warrior looked like he belonged in Sun City, although his uniform was so creased that he had to have slept in it.

"Good. Perhaps I am naïve but there is no indication you are actually spies. Disruptive and disrespectful but I am going to take you at your word, so you are free to leave."

"Thank you," Torus said with clear relief and his accent slipping but the Knights did not appear to notice.

"Yes, we appreciate that," Osira acknowledged and inclined her head. Rawlinson glanced at Osira and jerked his own head in return. Chloe thought they looked like plastic ducks, bobbing in water.

"So, are we free to trade as well?" she asked.

Rawlinson stared at her with evident dislike, his eyes flicking to her necklace, and Chloe smiled at him as sweetly as she could.

"Yes," he told Obix.

"Excuse us a moment," Rawlinson then told Chloe and the other women.

"We need to be included," Chloe stated.

"Please," Max said, "We know this is not your way but at least allow us to listen to what is being decided."

Chloe looked at her, annoyed by her pleading with the assholes but aware that it was more likely to succeed than her own demanding tone. Rawlinson stared at Max, then glowered at Chloe before giving a curt nod of his head.

"Despite the unpleasantness with your countrymen, we have decided to invite you to a banquet this evening in honour of our guests from the Eternal Mandate," Rawlinson told Obix, who, inevitably, looked to Osira. The int-soft specialist nodded.

"We would be honoured to accept," Obix declared with a small bow, which the Sun City men clearly liked.

"So, this is to show us barbarians how to behave," Chloe said. "This had better not be a red wedding style set-up." The latter confused everyone but Max, who laughed, which was really all that mattered.

Rawlinson, jaw clenched, turned to her.

"Yes, it is to show you how to treat your hosts with gratitude," he stated. "For someone who wants trading rights from us and whose comrades were caught spying in our headquarters, you seem determined to annoy those who can grant what you desire."

"Story of my life," Chloe grinned at him but Max touched her arm. "I know. That's why we need men to guide us."

Max sighed.

"What my… friend wants to say is: we are grateful for this opportunity," Max told him. "We will depart in the morning and hope the benefits of trading with the Order outweigh the minor adjustments required for dealing with us."

Rawlinson nodded and returned to Obix and Torus. Chloe wondered how their nominal prisoner got on with the mech and whether he had realised that Obix was not human.

"Corporal Lores will escort you to the function this evening, which will commence at 2000. I am assigning two more people to assist," Rawlinson declared and then returned Lores salute before striding away, his henchmen in attendance.

"More guards," Chloe shrugged but was not really surprised. Although they had only been in Sun City a couple of days and the ride back to the Order would be arduous and cramped, she was ready to leave. In some ways, it was not as terrible as Chloe had assumed but, despite the open sky, she felt constrained, which was making her want to be more reckless. They needed to go before her mouth got them all into trouble.

"If Sun City really did not attack Fort jinyo," Osira mused, "then the Eternal Mandate are the only other option."

"They would not do such a thing," Corporal Lores assured her.

"Well, someone did," Chloe responded, "so that leaves you after all."

"I have defended you despite everything…" Lores began then clamped his mouth shut. Unsurprisingly, he would be getting debriefed at the end of each day. Chapel gave a reluctant nod when Chloe glanced at her to indicate she was getting grilled on Sun City's unwelcome guests as well. Osira was looking at Chloe as though expecting her to explode with indignation and even Torus and Emma seemed uncertain of her reaction. Only Max appeared to suspect she would be indifferent.

"We have a busy day. Let's see what we can buy, then lunch and decide what to actually get then we'd best prepare for dinner and hope it's not the last supper for us. So we don't turn up wearing the same thing, I was planning on wearing white," Chloe said.

Although it felt as though they had all day, Chloe found the time passed quickly. There was some discussion of what to take back and the limited size of the vehicles meant there was only so much they could carry anyway. Max, with almost frustrating compromise, suggested they load the APCs differently. There was only the money from selling the skins, which severely curtailed what they could buy but metal ores were put into Osira and Obix's vehicle while they bought gems for their own.

Lores was now joined by an officer, Captain Stokes, who seemed even less interested in the women's opinions but far more suspicious of them.

"If we make it back here, we will bring radiation scanners for you to purchase," Chloe told him but he ignored her. She told Lores instead but he appeared subdued by the presence of the officer.

"We have our own," the corporal answered, glancing at Stokes.

"Which are shit," Chloe stated. "You are processing irradiated ore. We have selected clean pieces but you are spreading the stuff everywhere. Some of it is well over 100 millisilverts."

"Is that bad?" Chapel asked and Stokes frowned at her.

"You saw how close we got to the stuff," Chloe replied. "It scares me shitless but a brief exposure… No, even then I would not want to throw the dice."

"Sun City is secure from radiation," Stokes stated. "It always has been."

"But things are changing," Emma said, much to his displeasure. "When you were only in the city, then that held true but you are expanding to the surface, building more settlements and mining the ground."

"Our protective measures are sufficient. Stop trying to undermine the Knights of Liberty," Stokes responded. "We do not need your scaremongering and outlandish ways."

"Oh, well, I'll tell the radiation that you don't believe in it," Chloe said.

"The sooner you leave and take your troublemaking with you, the better," the captain declared, his chin up.

"Because that's the worst thing you have to worry about," Chloe retorted, taking a step closer to him.

"He's not going to listen," Max told her.

"So?" Chloe responded but nodded.

They loaded the APCs with the purchased goods, spending almost all they had from selling the skins. There was not a large amount, even of the ore, and at least the gems left them plenty of room in the vehicles. With all her and Max's clutter - admittedly, mostly hers - it was difficult to tell the machines were Armoured Personnel Carriers internally as well as with the cracked, bullet-riddled, painted, sand-blown ceramic plates on the outside. Chloe stashed a bag of small gems in a compartment in the driver's cabin and hoped they would sell back in Troy as she had little notion what was in demand. The next trip should be better, now they had an idea of what was required.

"They annoy me but I think we could make something of this," Chloe said to Max, who was rummaging among their belongings.

"Sounds like you're going legit, Chloe," Max responded and she laughed.

"Perhaps a bit," Chloe accepted. There had been some very lean months in Cowl's Encampment when she had considered returning to Troy City with Emma. Some of Cowl's band had been pressing for her to leave as well. It had improved but trying to keep enough food to stay alive while giving as much as possible to their daughter had been tough. This was a chance to change all that. To give them all a future worth having.

"Keep stopping me, Max," she said quietly. "Don't let me fuck it up."

"I don't like what they have done here, either," Max responded, coming to sit in the passenger seat. "Change will have to come slowly."

"I don't do 'slowly'," Chloe told Max but felt that maybe she _was_ ready for slowing down. She had to pick her fights more carefully and there was a lot on the line for them. "You'll have to be my brakes. Let's get finished here and back to the Order. They have problems but problems I know how to deal with. You look so cute, Max. I hate these kitchen-appliance white dresses but I can't deny the facts."

Max kissed her.

"You look quite ravish-able yourself, Chloe," Max said, close enough to see the pigmentation in her eyes. "The white goes with your blue hair. You have to pose for me."

"Later," Chloe grinned and returned the kiss. She ran her hands through Max's hair and down her back, wanting to touch every inch of her despite the confines of the APC's cabin.

"We need to go," Emma called, sticking her head into the vehicle's main compartment.

"You go in our place," Chloe said.

"It's free food," Emma tempted.

"I'm sure they'll let you bring us back a doggie back," Max told her but, with one last kiss that left Chloe's lips pleasantly tingling, returned to the compartment.

"I need a 'do not disturb' sign," Chloe sighed then Max was taking pictures with the data pad. Chloe wished she could find an old analogue camera for her but posed as best as possible, trying to do catwalk poses in the limited space of the APC.

"We're going to be late," Emma commented, returning to the APC but only prompted Max to take a picture of her framed by the doorway.

Reluctantly, they left, taking the elevator back up, which was becoming crowded with the five pirates, Torus, Chapel, Corporal Lores, Captain Stokes and the seamstress Nerine Niles, who had also been assigned to chaperone them. However irritating their presence was, Chloe could not truly blame the Knights' mistrust.

"And you really want us at some soiree?" she asked as the elevator hummed upwards again.

"Personally, I think it would be…" Stokes replied but stopped and shook his head. Chloe would have preferred a straight shouting match to all the swallowed invective.

"Hey, we're all friends here, say what you think," Chloe provoked him.

"…like bringing swine to a feast," Stokes finished loudly. Chapel was shocked, Niles horrified, Lores embarrassed.

"Sir," the corporal objected.

"If people insist on behaving like animals then they should be treated as such," Stokes stated, his face red but Chloe could not tell if it was from anger or discomfort.

"There, didn't that feel better?" Chloe continued to rile him.

"Chloe," Max sighed.

"With respect, Captain, we seek to elevate them to our standards," Chapel said, clearly unhappy. "We won't do that by lowering ourselves to theirs."

"Now, that's a nice insult," Chloe smirked and Emma shook her head with exasperation. Osira frowned her disapproval, while Obix appeared distraught and only Torus was grinning, looking rakish in his rumpled uniform.

"I get it: talking obnoxiously is bad. Having a reality show to determine people's lives is good," Chloe said.

"Make sure you leave in the morning," Stokes told her as the elevator slowed and let them out.

"Get them ready for this evening," he ordered Chapel and strode off with Lores, Torus and Obix in tow. The latter looked back at Osira with evident distress.

"Chloe, please remember why we're here," Max berated her. "We do not want to be banned from coming back. This is me applying the brakes, my love."

"I know but it's all politeness while throwing people off ledges," Chloe responded.

"But do you want to trade with them?" Max asked and Chloe shrugged then nodded.

The long dusk had already begun and they parted with another kiss, which had Chapel shaking her head and a passer-by almost falling over at seeing them. _I just can't stop pushing_, Chloe thought, although not kissing Max just because the locals had a stick up their collective asses was not an option.

"So, do we get to put on something other than these bed sheets for this shindig tonight?" Chloe asked Chapel. Dresses just felt so weird. Chloe really could not remember the last time she had worn one and two days had not been long enough to adjust.

"We will be wearing similar dresses. What else would there be?" Chapel queried, perplexed, and Chloe groaned.

White dress aside, the start of the meal was not as bad as Chloe feared. There was still formality and no alcohol but people still seemed slightly more relaxed. It was held in the Lord's Mansion, Salisbury's official residence, in a hall that Chloe thought needed a car to reach the far end. Three lines of tables and chairs were filled by the great and the good of Sun City plus the pirates. Salisbury, Rawlinson and others Chloe did not recognise were on a slight dais. The pirates and their escorts were as far from them as could be arranged.

It was strange not to have mechs, with actual people bringing the dishes, starting with soup. She had no idea what was in it - some pale meat and bits of vegetables - but Oz confirmed it was safe to eat, despite not having an evident Geiger counter.

"Yes, I'll have the contaminated rat meat with a side order of toxic vegetables," Chloe said to Max in an atrocious New England accent, making her crack up laughing.

"At least wait until we've eaten before getting us thrown out," Max told her. "Dog, this takes me back. I mean…"

"I know," Chloe interrupted her. Sometimes, it was almost like they were kids again and the intervening years scratching a living without Max were a dream. Of course, even ignoring where they were, Emma was across from them, talking with Nerine Niles. If red heads were rare on Earth, they were almost unheard of in Telkia - or at least the parts Chloe had been to - and several people stared at her before remembering it was rude. Her own, with the dark blonde roots showing again, got just as much attention.

In an exceptional break with protocol, one waitress whispered that she liked her hair colour. Most of the inhabitants varied from straight up disapproval to confusion, perhaps thinking she had somehow naturally grown blue hair.

There was the usual gender division and Chloe found she missed having some male company for the different perspectives in conversation. The men and Obix were over at a table reserved for males and Captain Stokes looked as though he was trying to get information from Torus.

"We ought to bring a truck-load of moonshine, next visit," Chloe said then had to explain to Chapel - on her other side - what that was. Persuading the woman that getting shit-faced on booze was a good thing was more difficult than explaining the effect. Chapel looked to Max for confirmation.

"It's good," Max confirmed and Chloe shook her head.

"'Good'. Max, you will never make a salesperson," Chloe told her.

"That's why I recruited you for the Caulfield-Price Trading Company," Max countered.

"I thought we were going with Price-Caulfield?" Chloe responded. The next course was brought - some spiced beans that she found tasty - and found her antagonism towards the Knight thawing a little. Their way of life did not suit her at all and reducing women to a subservient role was just as offensive as ever but seeing everyone - except Stokes - enjoying themselves made it hard to be too angry. Perhaps it was age or being with her family but Chloe decided to try very hard not to irritate the locals any further.

Despite there only being water to drink.

If not exactly raucous, the rumble of conversation grew louder, a third course was brought of glazed morsels of meat. A nod from Osira and she tucked in.

"This is good, regardless of where it came from," Max commented.

"Is this honey glazed?" Chloe asked Chapel who confirmed that it was but had no idea where the honey came from. There hardly seemed enough flowering plants to support hives but there had to be somewhere.

Salisbury stood and the room fell silent. Chloe suppressed a groan at the thought of more speeches about how wonderful the Eternal Mandate was and how disgraceful the Order was. As a representative of the Grand Fault Order - ignoring the spying part - Chloe knew she did not do a good job but the Knights were so easy to wind up. It was hard to stop herself at times and had already scratched 'CP+MC' into the table they were eating at, then had to cover it with her plate.

"Does the 'Lord' get several fertile wives?" Chloe queried. She had spoken as quietly as possible but those close glared at her, even if they did not hear the words.

"No, the Lord is always infertile to prevent nepotism," Chapel explained in an annoyed whisper. "Now, please, keep any further questions until after he has spoken."

Chloe looked at her in surprise and then at Salisbury. It would cut down on corruption and prevent powerful families arising or, at least, make it more difficult. Whatever policies he enacted would never benefit his offspring and she wondered if that made him a better leader or reinforced a reluctance to change.

"Good evening, ladies, gentlemen and honoured guests. Hopefully, everything is to your satisfaction. Our singer from this evening is Tithonia Sanchez," Salisbury announced and sat.

Sanchez was young - although most people were starting to get that appellation - and quite big at the shoulders and hips with the de rigueur dress particularly unsuitable for her figure. There were a couple of musicians - both women - with a guitar and a flute behind the singer. Chloe found the whole set up strange, having a break from eating at an official function for some entertainment and sitting in silence while it was happening even more bizarre. Sanchez stumbled over the first line, cleared her throat while blushing and started over but she had a beautiful voice once she settled to singing.

The audience were quiet and attentive with even the waiters pausing in their work. Sanchez sang three songs and Chloe picked up enough of the words to tell the first one was of a woman waiting at home for her husband to return, the second of unrequited love while the final song was more politicized as the words referred to everyone pulling together for the greater good. Polite applause followed and Chloe itched to stand up, clap loudly and whistle.

The next course, savoury root vegetables arranged like spokes of a wheel came next. There was not great amounts of any of it, making her want to grab as much as possible, which would have everyone frowning and shaking their heads. That notion just made her want to do it even more but Max was right: provoke them too much and the pirates would be banned from returning.

Another course of some pulled white meat in a biscuit came next, with a salty sauce, which she gulped down. Max passed Chloe hers.

"I can't take food from you!" Chloe protested.

"You know you always eat more than me," Max laughed. "I haven't eaten so much in years."

"You're too scrawny," Chloe said and tore the biscuit in half to return at least some of it to Max.

"Since when did you compromise?" Max grinned, taking small bites while Chloe popped the other half in her mouth whole.

"I can compromise!" Chloe objected around a mouthful of food. It was something she had done a lot with Emma as soon as her daughter had realised how much Chloe was going without.

There was more conversation, some about the singer, others about what the arrival of outsiders meant. At least from what Chloe could hear there was no mention of the executed spies but a lifetime of pushing the volume up on anything that played music meant she could no longer pick out conversations as well as she once could.

A last course of sweet cookies and cakes finished the meal and Salisbury rose again at the end dais. Behind him was a banner of sky blue with a black stripe and silver sword icon but it was the only regalia for the Knights of Liberty.

"Thank you for your attendance and let me extend especial gratitude to our friends in the Eternal Mandate. Their sale of military weapon systems for nominal price has allowed us to push back against the raiders who took our food, our machinery and our people."

At the last part, Chloe stared at Torus but he was busy watching Salisbury while eating an iced cup cake. For all the many, many flaws of the Knights of Liberty, there was no indication they had taken people against their will.

"To the Eternal Mandate," Salisbury declared and raised a glass. The toast was repeated by those assembled and Chloe shook her head at using water for the tribute.

Another man stood, dressed in a bottle green uniform similar to that worn by Torus and Obix but with gold insignia.

"Thank you. Some of you here know me: Fluvius Glabrio, ambassador for the Eternal Mandate," he declared. There was little to distinguish him from the Knights of Liberty people. Shorter than their average, with dark hair slightly longer than the locals preferred, he had a friendly, round face but Chloe disliked him without really knowing why. The distance did not help but she thought he seemed too knowing. Her instinct quickly proved accurate.

"It almost pains me to do this after the warmth you have shown towards me," he continued and paused a little, apparently enjoying the confusion the statement generated. "However, Sun City and all the lands of the Knights of Liberty are now under the command of the Eternal Mandate."

Chloe muttered an expletive before looking at Max and then the others. All were concerned, even Obix and Torus. She had wanted to shake the Knights of Liberty's pliant, stilted society but not this way.

"Is this a joke?" Salisbury asked, frowning. "If so, it is in very poor taste." His words were almost lost in the rising consternation as people turned to their neighbours to ask what was happening.

Glabrio raised his hands for calm and the tension in the room was almost physical.

"I know you will not want to accept this but here are the facts. We control the APCs, the circlets and even the rail guns will not fire. Not only do you not have weapons but the Eternal Mandate can operate your vehicles, including their rail cannon. Although the vehicles cannot reach the city, it would take only minutes to destroy the towers supporting it.

"Understand there can be no rescue for you and the choice is between death and incorporation into the Mandate."

He sat down, looking smug for a man who had a roomful of people who now wanted to kill him. Salisbury staggered backwards but then the dais was largely lost to Chloe's sight as everyone stood, several shouting in frightened outrage.

"We need to get to the APCs and out of here," Chloe said but tailed off. "Oz?"

"The circlets and APCs are all on one network," Osira told her with calm that was admirable and annoying. "Ours will be under their control." Only Torus appeared pleased, apparently believing the enemy of his enemy was his friend.

"Let's get to them anyway and hope you can get them back," Chloe decided. "Staying up here isn't going to do us any good.

"Chapel, coming?" she checked while already getting the pirates moving.

"Where are you going?" demanded Stokes as they headed for the door. He made to grab Chloe and Obix moved with bewildering speed to clasp his wrist. The Captain struggled and was clearly shocked by how ineffective it was but Chloe was already at the doors. A doorman held them open for her, which was so incongruous to what was happening that she was tempted to question whether he understood that his city was lost.

The doorman closed the door behind them and the cacophony was reduced to an angry hum like distant bees. Chloe checked everyone was present to find too many were there: the pirates including Torus but also Chapel, Niles, Stokes and Lores.

"What are you doing?" she demanded then shook her head and strode for the elevators.

"Our orders are to escort you, limit the disruption you cause and ensure you do not spy on us," Stokes told her, marching beside her. It was calm outside. The electric street lamps creating pools of light under the clouded sky and a few insects even gathered under one of them. A man and a woman were strolling along laughing, the white of her dress almost seeming to be floating by itself in the dark, while another man was sat on a bench staring at the ground.

A few of those they passed looked in surprise at the group hurrying through the streets, especially when Chloe cursed the dress that made running difficult but no-one made to stop them.

"What are your intentions?" Stokes demanded.

"To leave, if we possibly can," Chloe gasped. Perhaps it was more than just the dress preventing her running. _I thought stopping smoking weed would allow me to sprint for miles._

"Over there," Emma alerted them and pointed to a man writhing on the ground.

"Stokes, make yourself useful and get the circlet off him," Chloe ordered, inevitably making him bristle and instruct Lores to do so.

On through dark streets, Chapel and Stokes occasionally redirecting them when taking a wrong turn. Then they were at the elevators as Lores caught up with them.

"He was having a nightmare about being on fire," the corporal explained.

"They have that much control?" Stokes asked then, as the elevator doors opened, barked: "Stop."

"No time," Chloe told him and went in. Chloe was not one for planning but this was more improvisation than even she was comfortable with. If the APCs started firing, they were all dead.

"Our entire defence network now centres on those circlets. We got rid of our old Honour 3030 rifles and desert patrollers," Stokes said to no-one in particular.

"Then you are now part of the Eternal Mandate," Osira stated. "Assuming Lord Salisbury is not suicidal."

Chloe wondered if a lack of children meant he would care less for the future, preferring to die than surrender. She hoped not.

"There has to be something we can do," Stokes said, looking like he wanted to pace within the confines of the elevator. "We will ally with the Order," he declared as though granting a boon.

"You've lost and we can't stop them either," Osira told him bluntly.

"We will resist," Stokes insisted. "There are some 3030 rifles remaining in storage."

"Good luck," Chloe muttered and sympathised but this was even less their fight. More importantly, they had to inform the Order what had happened so they could prepare. She did not like the Grand Fault Order but the Eternal Mandate were making a good case for 'better the devil you know'. East of the Order lands were uninhabitable from what she and Emma had heard with the south hardly better, although some said there was good land to the far north.

One thing at a time. Escape the fall of Sun City and worry about later later.

The elevator doors opened and a squad of Sun City troopers with rail guns and circlets stood waiting for them.

"We have been ordered to detain you," one said.

THIRTEEN

Incarceration was never long term in Telkia, Max had learned. Too much of a drain on resources and space so exile was the most frequent punishment, essentially letting God/chance/fate decide what became of the criminal. There were holding cells for those awaiting sentencing and Max and Chloe had been put in one; a small room but better than the APC. There were no windows and the slot on the door for their gaolers to check on them was closed. That aside, it was relatively comfortable and at least they were together, although both worried about the others, especially Emma.

Unlike everywhere else in Sun City, the walls had been marked, often with names. One had 'Remember me' after it. Someone else had written 'I'm sorry' and just below it a third had put 'I'm scared'. Chloe had managed to get a piece of metal to scratch her own indelible inscriptions. There was nothing to do but worry about what was going to happen.

"Tell me about her," Chloe said after finishing a raven and it was a few moments before Max understood who she meant.

"Sasha. I was walking downtown to get some food but really just to get out of the house, and a pair of girls called her a dyke and spat at her. I went up and asked her for a date, loudly. I know you'd have yelled at them or punched them but it was as brave as I was capable of.

"African-American, if that matters, and shy with self-deprecating humour and rejected by her family. I so wanted to love her and I still don't know the depth of her feelings for me but we got talking about having children - all the options you and I went through - and it just hammered home that I already had a family out there. Out here, as it happens. There was no trace of blood after the vortex and I just knew you were alive. I started reading about quantum physics again and that ended our relationship. Regardless of whether she loved me or if I loved her, Sasha saw the future as us being a family but I was thinking about you and Em.

"Now, why are you asking, Chloe? Past relationships aren't something to bother you."

"There was a sixth, Max. Another guy who I screwed. I just… shit, I guess I want everything to be on the table before… well, whatever these bastards have planned for us," Chloe said, shifting over to sit on the cot beside her.

"A serious relationship, then," Max guessed but Chloe laughed bitterly and shook her head. For the first time since they had reunited, since leaving Arcadia Bay really, there was the angry Chloe that Max had thought never to see again. Not even Scarrow and Calderwell had quite brought back that self-destructive, world-hating version of her friend and lover.

"No, Max. Just another one night stand at the Chloe Price pit-stop," came the answer. "We're doing the business… he's scratching my itch and I'm lying there letting him when I start crying. I can't stop. Of course, he gets angry but still manages to finish in me before leaving and I just cannot stop crying."

They were both silent for a long time.

"I'm sorry," Max said.

"Why?" Chloe responded, looking genuinely confused.

"I created the vortex that sent you here," she explained.

"I wasn't trying to guilt trip you, Max," Chloe responded. "I don't know why I wanted… needed to tell you. Some dumb desire to be honest regardless of the hurt it causes, I guess. Maybe I can finally admit to you I can't always be some no-shits-given punk. Perhaps, it's some world-worst apology for thinking you were dead. Anyway, he was the last and after that I only tried my best to be a mom to Emma."

"And now?" Max queried.

"Now? As in, how am I doing stuck in a cell not knowing what a shit-pit of fascists are planning for us?" Chloe checked.

"No, dumb-ass, I mean us. When we're… together," she clarified.

"That's just it, maybe I'm so scared of what's going to happen to us. I… love making love to you," Chloe stated looking into her eyes. "You're like this super high for me.

"Shit, just ignore me," Chloe grunted, turning to look at the wall opposite them. "Perhaps I'm starting the menopause early."

"No, Chloe, my love, you are not taking that back," Max smiled. "Just know that I feel the same. You were there when I came out to my parents but I think, more than anything, I am Chloe-sexual."

"You are such a dork," Chloe laughed.

"Why so hesitant with me?" Max asked. "You know I want you but you seem reluctant to…"

"Get sweaty with you?" Chloe grinned but the expression became more contemplative. "Because I want to so much, because it's so wonderful with you, because I don't deserve someone so awesome, because there's so much fear in me that you're going to disappear, because I'm nearly 20 years older than when you last touched me, because what we have is so much more than physical. How's that for starters?"

Max nodded and smiled at her.

"Actually, I get all that," she said. "I just don't want to waste any aspect of being with you, Chloe."

"I do take you to all the great sites," Chloe smiled, leaning against her and indicating the walls of the cell. "I can't help feeling we need to do better at not being caught."

"If only I had a superpower," Max sighed and felt the vibration of Chloe laughing against her.

"Or a powerful robot that could rip these doors off," Chloe grinned.

They sat for a while in comfortable silence. There was nothing to do but having Chloe beside her made the time tolerable. Max had told their captors that Stokes and Chapel were already taking them to the detention centre but did not know what had become of any of the Sun City people. Obix might have been able to defeat the six armed men but it was a risk and then what? No working vehicles and two nations hunting them made escaping beyond the city difficult.

"What are you thinking about?" Max asked after a while as her thoughts slipped further into the past.

"Escaping," Chloe replied. "Kneeing the guard who brings the meal in the groin then making a run for it."

"Subtle," Max commented.

"Subtle is my other middle name," Chloe said.

"Chloe Elizabeth Subtle Price," Max tried. "I like it."

"How about you?" Chloe queried, putting her head against Max's.

"Leaving Arcadia Bay," Max said.

"Do you think we've got far enough from it yet?" Chloe grinned and Max snorted her amusement.

"Perhaps I'll try a portal to ten thousand years from now. Or the Jurassic Era: I could get some really cool T-Rex photos."

"They didn't exist in the Jurassic. You want the Cretaceous," Chloe informed her, making Max laugh.

"I'm a time-dancer: I'll pick up a baby dino in the Cretaceous and photo it in the Jurassic," she responded.

"Oz would have a fit at the potential timeline screw that would cause," Chloe snickered.

"If I'm going to mess with cause and effect, I'm going big," Max smirked. "It's a thought, though."

"What? Bringing an Allosaurus here to eat the guards? I'm on board with that!" Chloe said, pulling round to look Max in the face with her beautiful blue eyes wide.

"No, you doofus," Max managed while laughing. "If we can grab the others, try to portal us out."

"You don't have that power, Maxi," Chloe said, still smiling but serious. "Even trying could… will hurt you."

"A last resort," Max promised. "You're right but if we look like we're going to get flying lessons then there's nothing to lose."

Chloe shifted round to scratch at the wall again and Max itched to photograph her. White dress emphasising her tall, slim figure, topped with mid-blue hair and the image of an artist at work: it was like Max was taking a shot with her mind. She lay on her cot and watched Chloe work, taking pleasure simply from observing her.

They had been apart for 5 years, from 13 to 18, when Max's parents had moved to Seattle and she had not written. She so wanted to undo that period of being too distracted and cowardly to keep in touch. However much it was down to her being a shit friend, returning had caused Max to realise she wanted to spend her life with Chloe. Instead of growing into her own person without her best friend, she had somehow diminished and become less than she wanted to be. A Chloe-sized hole in her life had made Max withdraw into herself and she had not known it until they were together again. Max wondered, as she often had before, how different it could have been and whether they would always have ended up together romantically. Being able to skip through time put a different complexion on 'what if' scenarios.

After the trauma of the Arcadia Bay storm, there were a few, brief years of living, laughing and loving together before being parted again. It almost felt like karma for not keeping in touch as a teenager: desperate to hear from Chloe and Emma yet being unable to contact them. Eventually despairing, meeting and moving in with Sasha but that nagging sense that Chloe and Emma were alive, of having given up, of settling for safe and easy. Sasha deserved someone who loved her but Max knew she had hurt the other woman. Another to add to the list.

"I don't think your parents really liked me," Chloe said, still scratching away at the wall.

"They were certainly pissed when they found out we were living together," Max confirmed, realising she had been looking at Chloe's backside as she crouched down for part of her drawing.

"Before that. Before my dad died," Chloe explained.

"They thought you would lead me astray," Max said. "How wrong they were. We have this fine apartment, a daughter, our own transportation company; the very personification of suburban life."

"That's certainly one way of looking at it," Chloe laughed, turning to grin at her then standing back to show her artwork. A large dinosaur was chasing a group of fleeing men in uniforms. Max burst out laughing.

"Chloe, you might land me in jail but it is so worth it," she grinned and stood to kiss her. It might make her a bad person but she could never regret saving Chloe, even though it had meant a storm had torn through their hometown.

The door opened. A pair of armed guards stood just outside.

"Come with us," the first ordered but then noticed all the drawings on the walls.

"It was like this when we found it," Chloe said, innocently.

Both men wore dark grey uniforms and had circlets on their heads, making Max wonder if there was mind control. Osira had insisted they were safe but that had not exactly proved accurate.

"Is Emma alright?" Max asked. "The girl with the red hair."

The first man just waved with his rail rifle, indicating she should leave.

"You didn't really expect humanity from these goons, did you?" Chloe snorted as they left.

"Unless the circlets have lobotomised them, goons are people too, Chloe," Max commented. They were in a short corridor with four cell doors on each side. Antagonising guards. If last year's Max could see her now, that past version would be shocked. And scared. And jealous.

"Your companions are safe," the other guard told her.

"Thank you," Max acknowledged.

"Don't talk to them," the first ordered.

"They're E-M's enemies, not ours," the second muttered.

"We are part of the Eternal Mandate now," came the response as Max and Chloe reached the far end of the corridor.

"Our new masters," grumbled the second guard. The door opened to a room with a large glass window, giving a sweeping view of the land below, so far up that anything less than car-sized was indistinguishable from the surrounding desert.

"That's some sight," Max declared. The room was large but empty apart from one desk with a guard, reminding her of Larry but this one was taller, thinner and armed with a rail pistol.

"Yes," the friendlier guard agreed, "but I always feel slight vertigo when I stand at the glass."

"Stop talking to them, Harper," growled the other one and Max wondered if 'Harper' was speaking just to annoy him.

Max and Chloe were booked out of the detention facility, although both were staring out at the panorama before them. Evidently they were in one of the ancient sky scrapers that supported the city, which had not been obvious when they were led down at night. The city bottom shadowed everything, making the room they were in dark and probably only getting a couple of hours of bright light when the cloud-shrouded sun was between the horizon and the city floor. That aside, it could almost be a nearly-deserted office building from their time. The walls were painted pale green, which clashed with a blue and black Knights of Liberty banner and the carpet was hand-crafted but it still looked like it was waiting for more desks and chairs.

"Chloe Elizabeth Price and Max Caulfield. Checked out, 10:05," the man at the desk stated.

"Yes, could I speak to the manager?" Chloe said. "I have some complaints about the accommodation."

The seated guard looked at Chloe unamused, as though he had heard it all before, which was likely. They were taken through a couple of large rooms with few people, some of whom looked distinctly unhappy as they talked in secretive groups.

The surface of the city was as they had left it the night before, although people moved in a dazed manner as though not understanding what had happened. Then Max noted a cluster of four mechs stood at a corner. Unlike the Order ones, these were clearly robotic with a hard polymer shell of pale grey and heads with smooth steel-grey faceplates. On each one's chest in scarlet was an 8 on its side denoting the eternal part of its allegiance. All were armed with rail rifles and stood motionless.

"Do you think those things have any restrictions on shooting people?" Max wondered.

"Could be just for intimidation," Chloe suggested but clearly did not believe it.

"They arrived as soon as Lord Salisbury surrendered. He took the dive before seeing them," Harper said.

"Why don't you sit down and tell them everything? I'm sure Integrator Macula will wait," the other objected.

"Don't you care?" Harper demanded, stopping in the wide boulevard. "Your response to being invaded is to bow before the invaders and beg to help them," The city's tranquillity had been replaced by tension. Everyone looked at the robots with fear and hurried along. Max wondered if the disagreement between the two guards could be exploited yet could not see how.

"We lost," the guard snapped back. "If you want to punch one of those machines, go right ahead. I'm going to accept the new order."

They continued their journey in silence along the avenue and up to the military headquarters. Max had noticed the flag pole when they had broken in and it now had a pale grey banner with the bright red infinity insignia fluttering in the wind. Two androids were at the front door as sentries.

Inside was the same uncertainty that permeated outside, with people stood around waiting for instructions.

"One good leader and the Eternals would have a battle on their hands," Chloe opined and got a shove in the back.

"Silence," the hostile guard ordered.

"Castor!" Harper objected. "They're _women_."

"Who don't act like women so they don't get treated like women," Castor shrugged but others had noticed the action and he looked uncomfortable. Max doubted it was from her glaring at him and was tempted to rewind but that ability could be needed for more important reasons.

It could have been more from wanting to cling to what was familiar but an officer - given the additional flashes on his clothing - came across.

"Corporal Castor, as long as you are a Knight of Liberty, you will behave as one," the man declared. Castor stood at attention and turned to Chloe.

"I apologise, ma'am, that was unworthy of me," he said.

"No problem, Corp. I shouldn't have riled you by inferring you should fight instead of passively accepting being beaten," Chloe responded with an inclination of her head.

Castor went bright red and the officer looked almost as annoyed. Having seen how easily Obix defeated multiple adversaries, Max had no idea how the people of Sun City could resist the androids. They continued their march through the building and then up the elevator in silence.

Glabrio was the only human of the Eternal Mandate they had previously seen and him only at a distance. They were taken into a room with a new person, evidently another of the Mandate people as he wore a much different uniform and had almost comical side-burns. The male Knights of Liberty dressed in uniforms that looked to belong to the period around the start of the twentieth century on Earth but the man from the Eternal Mandate wore combat fatigues closer to what was normally worn when Max had been growing up.

Also present was a Knight of Liberty in a green uniform and a seven foot bulky android holding a rail rifle across its armoured chest stood ominously behind the pair. Its oval, blank face plate of grey metal, increased the sense of intimidation, like looking at a human and finding there were no details on their visage. Harper and Castor waited outside the room.

"I am Diviner Tarpeius Macula," the Eternal Mandate trooper presented himself. Evidently, the Knight of Liberty did not warrant introduction. "You are from the Grand Fault Order. Traders." He was of average height, a couple of inches shorter than the Knight beside him even seated, with a scar across one cheek and thin, downturned lips that gave him a discontented appearance. Pale brown eyes regarded them with contempt.

"Trading with the Knights not…" began Chloe and Max put her hand on the woman's arm.

"That's right and we will trade with you, instead," Max declared. She wanted to take the same line as Chloe, to be in their faces and tell them to get lost but getting out was the only priority now. Chloe stared at her for a moment but nodded.

"Unfortunately, that will not be possible," Macula stated. "We want to know about the attack on Fort Jinyo."

"And then what happens to us?" Max asked.

"Answer my questions," Macula ordered. "There are six of you and we will do whatever is necessary to know what happened." The Knight of Liberty beside him looked distinctly uncomfortable at that notion but said nothing.

"You attacked the settlement," Max said. "You know what happened. A peaceful settlement then your troops and vehicles attacked without warning." She did not know for certain the mercenaries had been hired by the Eternal Mandate but hoped he would give something away.

"If you continue to be obtrusive, I will have the Compliance Unit break your fingers and those of your friend," Macula stated and indicated the android. Max took Chloe's hand in her own.

"We are not being obtrusive, you sadistic thug!" Chloe snapped.

"We saw three armoured vehicles arrive and begin shooting the place up. Eventually, the defence forces got the upper hand and defeated your force," Max said. "What more is there to say?" How much did they already know? If their APCs were now back under Mandate control, they could track everywhere they had been.

"How many attacked and what destroyed them?" Macula asked.

"Three and gunfire," Max answered. They must not know they had travelled in the Mandate's own captured APCs. "I don't know: there were explosions and rounds flying everywhere."

"They went down easily, though," Chloe said and Max looked at her curiously. "Yes, the town was surprised but once the vehicles were no longer facing unarmed civilians, it only took a couple of shots to destroy each one."

_The Eternal Mandate don't know what destroyed their vehicles and want to know what the Order has,_ Max guessed from Chloe's statement.

"You are lying," Macula decided. "Unit 422, break their fingers, one per minute."

"We're not!" Max called out. "They took more hits but the defence forces dealt with them quickly. There's no need to do this."

The android shouldered its rifle and hummed forward with a hint of clanking machinery as Max and Chloe backed up against the door, still holding hands. Unit 422 moved rapidly and grabbed Chloe's other wrist in a vice-like grip causing her to gasp in pain.

Max rewound time.

There was little movement. Chloe and Max just went back to sitting on the seats, Unit 422 went back to the wall, the two men present twitched and shuffled rapidly in place, the words of the interrogation ran backwards.

"I am Diviner Tarpeius Macula. You are from the Grand Fault Order. Traders."

"Fuck," Chloe swore. "That is trippy. And unpleasant."

"Be that as it may," Macula responded, "We want to know about the attack on Fort Jinyo."

Chloe looked at Max, who smiled despite everything. Sharing what she could do eased the pressure of having to try to discover the right choices.

"We need to decide what to do," Chloe said to her, grabbing Max's hand.

"There is no decision to make. You will tell us what we want to know," Macula declared.

"We plan and you do your thing and then we act," Chloe declared.

"Tell us of the attack on Jinyo Fort," Macula insisted. "We know you were there. What are you doing?"

Chloe was looking under the table, making Max curious as well.

"One holstered rail pistol," Chloe said. "I grab it and pass to you. Rewind and then shoot our way out of here."

"Are you insane?" Macula demanded, standing with his hand on his holstered pistol. "Unit 422, shoot them if they make any sudden moves."

"That thing will kill us before we can do any of it," Max said.

"Unit 422, restrain them," Macula ordered and the android lurched forward to grab them.

Max rewound time.

"I am Diviner Tarpeius Macula. You are from the Grand Fault Order. Traders."

"Fuck," Chloe swore. "That is trippy. And unpleasant."

Max looked at her with concern. If the rewind no longer transferred across to Chloe when they were holding hands, it was going to make everything much more difficult.

"I'm just messing with you," Chloe grinned as Macula was saying: "Be that as it may. We want to know about the attack on Fort Jinyo."

If they managed to get out, Max really needed to talk to Chloe about her sense of humour when things were tense.

"Tell us of the attack on Jinyo Fort," Macula insisted. "We know you were there. What are you doing?"

Chloe went under the table, breaking contact with Max.

"Let me offer something else," she said.

"What are you doing?" demanded the Knight of Liberty, standing up so quickly his chair fell over.

"Get up," Macula ordered. "Do not think that will…"

That was as far as he got as Chloe punched him in the groin. Unit 422 fired, its rail rifle slug smashing the table into shards and killing Chloe. Wanting to scream, Max instead leapt for Macula's holster but Unit 422 brought its gun to bear on her.

Max rewound time.

Her head throbbed like nails were being driven through her skull. It could not be doing her any good.

"I am Diviner Tarpeius Macula. You are from the Grand Fault Order. Traders."

"Fuck," Chloe swore. "That is trippy. And unpleasant."

"Plan A is a 'no'," Max told Chloe, grabbing her hand tight. However much it had been undone, Max had seen Chloe with her back blasted open, red blood spreading across the floor and seeping into her white dress and blue hair.

"Being able to do that really screws with my jokes," Chloe grumbled. The thought that her ability would again fail when she most needed it nearly paralyzed Max but there was no choice but to go on.

"Tell us of the attack on Jinyo Fort," Macula insisted. "We know you were there."

"Yes, we were looking to buy goods," Max admitted, squeezing Chloe's hand. "Then your murdering thugs turned up and started slaughtering people. Fortunately, the Order had a captured APC and blew your three up."

Macula stared at her, eyes narrowed.

"You are hiding something," he determined.

"Fine: the Order has two of your APCs. They caught yours in the city engaged with the main defences," Max shrugged.

"We're also hiding that we think the Eternal Mandate are a bunch of shits," Chloe added. "Oh, darn, you tricked us into revealing that."

Max thought the Knight looked amused but any emotion was quickly hidden when she glanced at him.

"Now, can we go?" Max asked. "We have nothing to do with you or the Knights."

"Don't be stupid," Macula replied. "Put them with those prepared to resist the inevitable."

"Sounds like our kind of people," Chloe declared.

"If you won't let us leave, we will accept living here in Sun City," Max sighed. She had no intention of doing any such thing but not being killed was step one.

Macula gave a nod of his head to the Knight, who blushed at the patronising gesture but rose and went to the door. Castor and Harper escorted them out and back through the corridors.

"Well, that failed," Chloe muttered.

"You died," Max explained.

"Again?" Chloe sighed.

"Yes, you need to stop doing that," Max told her. "One of these times something is going to go wrong. You can't just try things and trust that we can undo it."

"We're still captured," Chloe said. "We have to take chances when they pop up."

"There's calculated risk and there's reckless, Chloe," Max told her. "You don't know what it's like to see you die."

"What are you two on about?" Harper demanded.

"If you're planning an escape, forget it," Castor added.

"Of course we're planning to escape," Chloe responded, stopping to stare at them. "The question is: why aren't you? I find your society boring and restrictive and your treatment of women as contemptable but that's better than having some psychopath wanting to break our bones because he didn't like what we said."

"The Eternal Mandate would not do that," Castor stated. "You must have antagonised them."

"You know that's a contradiction, right?" Chloe said.

"Please, just move along," Harper declared. "I wish things were different but our leaders have accepted being a vassal of the Eternal Mandate."

"Well, 'I was just following orders' is a valid excuse for everything," Chloe responded and Harper glared at her.

"This is what I mean," Castor said. "They are troublemakers. Sun City is better without them."

"And before yesterday, I might have agreed with you," Harper declared. "Today, they might be what we need."

"Don't be melodramatic, Harper. Nothing has changed, just that we now get more advanced technology and our leaders report to someone. What difference does it make?" Castor responded. "Let's just get these two delivered."

"Nice to be treated like a package," Chloe grumbled.

"If Macula questions Emma and she doesn't tell him what he wants to know…" Max said.

"I know," Chloe sighed.

"Please, help us," Max pleaded with the two guards. "We just want to leave. We have done nothing against the Knights of Liberty." True, they had broken into the headquarters but that was hardly detrimental given how things had gone.

"No," Castor refused. "Get moving."

"Stokes," Chloe said noticing the captain walking up to them, causing Max to turn around. He was striding down the street as though he might barge straight through them.

"I need to ask the prisoners some questions," he stated, returning the salutes of the two guards. She expected at least Castor to object but he said nothing as the captain took her and Chloe to one side.

"Can you get my family to the Order?" he queried, surprising Max. He looked as though asking was painful but that made her trust that his request was genuine.

"Yes," Chloe answered and Stokes frowned at her.

"There are no guarantees but we are your best chance," Max told him.

"Then come with me," Stokes ordered. "I will get you somewhere hidden and then obtain vehicles."

"Steady there, Strider," Chloe said. "We're getting our friends and then see if we can get our vehicles back."

"Getting to your companions will not be possible but I will see where your machines are," Stokes stated, chin in the air.

"First, we're an 'all or nothing' deal," Max explained while putting her hand on Chloe's arm, "second, we will need them. If you don't like that, we'll escape without you."

Stokes derisive snort showed what he thought to that but gave a curt nod.

"You are dismissed," he told Harper and Castor. Again, Max thought they would object but both seemed content to be rid of the duty and pass the responsibility onto Stokes. The two guards started arguing as soon as they were a few steps away.

"We had best get your friends, then," Stokes declared.

"Will Chapel or Corporal Lores help?" Max queried as he was already leading them away from the main streets. The wide boulevards had seemed open and welcoming but now Max wished they were narrower to better hide them. She and Chloe had thrown away their hats as keeping to the customs of the Knights of Liberty no longer mattered but now regretted it as lacking headwear made them more noticeable. The Eternal Mandate androids took no notice of them, however, and most of the residents seemed too distracted by other things.

"I want to fight them," Stokes snarled to no-one specific as he strode between buildings until stopping at a corner.

"So fight them," Chloe said and Max could not tell if she was trying to rile him for the sake of it or to actually have him battle the occupiers.

"With what?" Stokes demanded. "I doubt our old assault rifles would damage those things and the APCs would bring down the city if we tried."

"The rail guns have a chip above the handles," Chloe told him. "Take that out and the E-Ms won't be able to deactivate them."

Max looked at her.

"I watched Oz with one of them," Chloe shrugged and Max smiled. She should have known Chloe would have taken an interest in the guns.

"A chip?" Stokes checked and Chloe gave a brief synopsis of microchips.

"How can _you_ know of these things?" Stokes demanded.

"You need us and we need you, Stokes," Chloe sighed, with more diplomacy than Max had anticipated. "How about you just think of us as men for now and I'll stop thinking of you as an idiot and we'll go from there."

"How dare you!" Stokes exploded, his face turning so red that Max thought he would have a heart attack or, worse, hit Chloe as his fists clenched. She was on the verge of rewinding but Chloe held up her hands with a calm that Max envied. Her love's deliberate provocations, not so much.

"Or we can keep doing this and have the E-Ms capture us all," Chloe said.

Stokes visibly fought to bring his anger under control.

"If you were a man, I would duel you," he managed through clenched teeth.

"Because that would be helpful," Chloe responded.

"Stop baiting him, Chloe," Max sighed. "They have our daughter captive and I don't want to turn up to find Macula has snapped all her fingers." Chloe blushed.

"You're right," she said weakly. "Get our people, Stokes. Then we get yours and then we get out of here."

"Your daughter? How...?" Confusion, anger and something close to disgust crossed his features. Max wanted to punch him or punch him and then rewind but that would be indulging her desires when more important things were at hand. "It doesn't matter," he decided, shaking his head but clearly trying to convince himself. "We have to work together."

Stokes looked as though the idea sickened him but then seemed to accept the lack of alternatives.

"Your men are already at the Expulsion Gate. Follow me," he ordered.

"They can wait," Chloe managed to say. She was having to suppress her rage no less than Stokes.

"Emma and Osira first," Max agreed.

"This is why women should not have jobs requiring logic. You are too emotional," Stokes declared, turning to walk in the opposite direction.

"I'll give you some emotion, you prejudiced prick," Chloe shouted and moved in front of Stokes to stand almost toe-to-toe with him, glaring up with fists bunched.

"Chloe, you can't argue with a troll. Stokes, if you want your family out of here, stop trying to make us your enemy," Max stated. He sneered and waited, staring at Chloe.

"Chloe, we have wasted enough time," Max said.

Her lover nodded and moved out of the way but glanced at Max in a way that suggested she should have supported her more. Yet Chloe was then rushing them back to the jails and Max hurried to keep up with the taller woman.

39


End file.
